11/07/2022
What can generations of Native American practices in country combined with science from the American Lung Association teach us about fighting fire with fire?
I live in Oregon, and in this month alone, we had the second worst air quality in the world due to wildfire smoke AND a Forest Service professional arrested for setting a prescribed fire to prevent more catastrophic fires.
How do we balance the perils and the promise of prescribed fire? Our Native communities have long used fire in the West to renew the landscape and avoid catastrophe. Can we still do that in a time of climate change?
The American Lung Association has released a report on the health impacts of prescribed fire, which provides a scientific and in-depth examination of this question.
Today on the podcast, I talk to Bodie Shaw who is a Native American and a wildland firefighting expert who lives at this critical juncture.
As an ICU doctor who makes life-and-death decisions daily with imperfect data, I sincerely empathized with the work of our heroes in the wildland fire space. This is a challenging topic, and I appreciated Bodie’s perspective.
Listen to the Air Health Our Health podcast to learn more, and follow the page on Facebook!
https://anchor.fm/airhealthourhealth/episodes/Fighting-Fire-with-Fire--Prescribed-Burns--Protecting-your-Home-with-Bodie-Shaw-e1ma143/a-a6rgprj
Can we fight fire with fire? The American Lung Association has released a report suggesting that this is a healthy way forward, and our Native communities have used ceremonial burns on our lands for generations. I wanted to talk to someone who lives at the intersection of all of this. For this episo...
